When astronauts on the moon are imprisoned by Darkseid, it's up to Superman and Earth's heroes to rescue them.
Uncovering on the moon the Tower of Darkness, secret base of the New God Darkseid, Lord of Apokolips, and his minions Steppenwolf and Mantis, astronauts are captured and the Super Powers team are called to rescue them. Superman, Green Lantern, Flash, Red Tornado, Firestorm, and Doctor Fate must do battle with the energy vampire Mantis as the moon hurtles towards the Earth.—Anonymous
When Kenner was awarded the license to produce action figures, vehicles, and playsets based upon properties owned by DC Comics, it was the start of a new brand named the Super Powers Collection (featuring Jack Kirby's Fourth World characters and concepts and heavily influenced by the 1982 DC Comics Style Guide drawn predominantly by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez). Some articles of this brand included an updated version of Super Friends by Hanna-Barbera with the new banner and character designs, VHS tapes releasing episodes of Filmation's various series based on DC Comics, and a seeming unending flow of products including comic books, clothing (such as underoos) and apparel, coloring books, lunchboxes, posters, which-way books, crafts, and games. One such company called Kid Stuff produced picture books with records that would read a story to you. Additionally produced was a line called See-and-Read with VHS video tapes under their Kid Vid Productions imprint using the artwork from the books with the audio from the record playing in a manner similar to the Marvel Super Heroes (1966) TV series. These tapes were, in order, "Darkseid... of the Moon!", "Battle at the Earth's Core!", and "The Battle for Apokolips!"
"Darkseid... of the Moon!", like the other tapes, featured plots based on the mini-comics packaged with the Super Powers action figures and art produced by the same art teams. The art featured on this tape in particular was drawn by Alex Saviuk and Mike Manley. The characters used were all pulled from the toyline's action figures, using those same designs, specifically Darkseid, Steppenwolf, Mantis, Superman, Green Lantern, Flash, Firestorm, Red Tornado, and Doctor Fate and the advertised yet unproduced playset the Tower of Darkness (which also found its way into the 1986 Super Powers comic book mini-series).
The plot's pretty thin: Americans are trying to build a city on the moon's surface but come across Darkseid who is trying to change the moon's orbit so that it destroys the Earth. After a rescue mission fails, Earth's heroes go to the moon and are captured, save Firestorm, by Mantis. Therein, Firestorm must fight Mantis who stole the other heroes' powers and defeats the New God by turning moon rocks into kryptonite. Superman returns the moon to its proper orbit which destroys Darkseid's machines, in turn freeing the astronauts. The final "scene" sets up the next video and after the credits roll, you get an extended preview of the next installment.
What really sells what could be described a rather cheaply produced piece of merchandise is the gorgeus artwork. The character designs of Garcia-Lopez are beautifully rendered, the oft forgotten Kirby's New Gods (the Super Powers Collection one of the few instances royalties for his work were paid out to him while giving a push for the Fourth World that likely is the reason it's still so greatly remembered today) are featured prominently, and helped instill in the next generation a love for comic books. I'm sure "Darkseid... of the Moon!" being the first installment, and likely most successful, you could find a copy for sale. If you can get past the fact the writing actively spoke down to its audience, you can really enjoy some nice artwork.
